Eric Trethewey
Biography
Eric Trethewey - Photo Courtesy of raonoke.com
Eric Trethewey, originally from Nova Scotia, was a member of the Creative Writing faculty at Hollins University in Virginia. After earning his B.A. at the University of Kentucky, Trethewey continued his education, earning an M.A. at the University of New Orleans and a PhD at Tulane University. He authored five collections of poems: Dreaming of Rivers (1984), Evening Knowledge (1991), The Long Road Home (1994), Songs and Lamentations (2004), and Heart's Hornbook (2004). Evening Knowledge was the winner of the 1990 Virginia Prize for Poetry. In addition to poetry, Trethewey also wrote a screenplay, The Home Waltz, which won the Virginia Governor's Screenplay Competition. His daughter, Natasha Trethewey, was a frequent subject of his writing; in turn, she became an accomplished poet in her own right -- worthy of consideration and research beyond this mere mention -- and so rendered her father in her own work.
Eric Trethewey passed away in the fall of 2014.
Eric Trethewey passed away in the fall of 2014.
One autumn night in your thirties
you bob up from sleep.
You've been dreaming of rivers.
Dazed, warm in the blankets,
you turn the dream over,
burnish the edges, hidden corners,
before the glow goes flat
in the morning light.
The Ellershouse River.
Begin with the girl, the spot
where your bodies blazed
in the sweetfern.
The river noses in there,
shoulders the lane,
turns back to the trees,
and you trace the clear water
upstream, slowly,
bend by bend,
pausing to fish as you did then
the foam-scummed pools.
You cross on a deadfall,
skirt rapids to the oxbow
on a lop-stick trail.
There the land takes a breath, rises
to the bridge and thick woods
on the other side. From below,
you see again how the trestle hovers,
creaks like death in the air,
and crossing over, smell that old
preserver on the ties. On the far side
the beeches sidle in to waterfalls,
black pools, waterstriders moving
in the gloom. Fishing gets better
and you bring the boys in from the dream,
give names to them,
keep on climbing in your mind
toward the thin source of the stream,
push on until, short of it,
deep in the shadow of spruce
and straggle of swale,
memory stammers, repeats itself,
and for all your cunning
this river fades into other rivers,
all rivers.
Holding on before daylight,
you wheel in your circle of loss,
pine and resin, damp moss fragrant
on memory's air, and go for one more crack
at the orange-bellied trout
where the water hooks down
through the trees, through the gorge,
around water-honed granite,
past the trestle to a pause, doubles back
on itself, widens, lightens,
and eases on down to the lane--
where the hunted Indian, Shires,
one step ahead of the Mounties
leaped into legend that swollen spring--
then over shoals, under willow overhangs,
past cutbanks and, highballing on current now,
you sweep through alders, by the mill,
the bridge, past Deming's store,
and wind through flat pasture
to the big-bend camp-meeting
shallows of baptism
where the water leans back
and foots it under the elms,
to the swimming-hole full of bodies, breasts,
and one final shoot through a meadow
to the highway bridge
and beyond where you've been yet,
ocean bound now,
with all those other rivers
blinking silver through the trees,
golden in the sun
and though you've lost it again
you know it doesn't end here.
Published in Dreaming of Rivers. (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984).
Used with permission of the author.
you bob up from sleep.
You've been dreaming of rivers.
Dazed, warm in the blankets,
you turn the dream over,
burnish the edges, hidden corners,
before the glow goes flat
in the morning light.
The Ellershouse River.
Begin with the girl, the spot
where your bodies blazed
in the sweetfern.
The river noses in there,
shoulders the lane,
turns back to the trees,
and you trace the clear water
upstream, slowly,
bend by bend,
pausing to fish as you did then
the foam-scummed pools.
You cross on a deadfall,
skirt rapids to the oxbow
on a lop-stick trail.
There the land takes a breath, rises
to the bridge and thick woods
on the other side. From below,
you see again how the trestle hovers,
creaks like death in the air,
and crossing over, smell that old
preserver on the ties. On the far side
the beeches sidle in to waterfalls,
black pools, waterstriders moving
in the gloom. Fishing gets better
and you bring the boys in from the dream,
give names to them,
keep on climbing in your mind
toward the thin source of the stream,
push on until, short of it,
deep in the shadow of spruce
and straggle of swale,
memory stammers, repeats itself,
and for all your cunning
this river fades into other rivers,
all rivers.
Holding on before daylight,
you wheel in your circle of loss,
pine and resin, damp moss fragrant
on memory's air, and go for one more crack
at the orange-bellied trout
where the water hooks down
through the trees, through the gorge,
around water-honed granite,
past the trestle to a pause, doubles back
on itself, widens, lightens,
and eases on down to the lane--
where the hunted Indian, Shires,
one step ahead of the Mounties
leaped into legend that swollen spring--
then over shoals, under willow overhangs,
past cutbanks and, highballing on current now,
you sweep through alders, by the mill,
the bridge, past Deming's store,
and wind through flat pasture
to the big-bend camp-meeting
shallows of baptism
where the water leans back
and foots it under the elms,
to the swimming-hole full of bodies, breasts,
and one final shoot through a meadow
to the highway bridge
and beyond where you've been yet,
ocean bound now,
with all those other rivers
blinking silver through the trees,
golden in the sun
and though you've lost it again
you know it doesn't end here.
Published in Dreaming of Rivers. (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984).
Used with permission of the author.
Critical Analysis: Dreamt Nostalgia in Eric Trethewey's "Dreaming of Rivers"
Paige Parker and Lisa Banks (for ENGL 3403: Canadian Poetry)
Eric Trethewey’s poem “Dreaming of Rivers” explores the quick, flowing images of a dream experienced by the speaker. Trethewey's opening line indicates the setting of the poem, wherein the speaker's dream occurs on an “autumn night” (1). “Dreaming of Rivers” becomes increasingly concerned with the reality of dream logic, as Trethewey's speaker strives to maintain the dream's vivacity before it slips into the vault of memory. Trethewey's speaker “bob[s] up from sleep” (2) and is “dazed” (4), capturing the moment between memory and forgetting.
While a brief mention of “Ellershouse River” (9) situates readers within the geographical space of Trethewey's birth-province of Nova Scotia, Trethewey's use of the second-person pronoun suggests that the reader and the speaker inhabit the same space of understanding. In this instance, the reader is situated within the dream-scape herself. The second stanza introduces a sexualized dream image focusing on the landscape surrounding it, as Trethewey commands the reader—and, consequently, the speaker—to
begin with the girl, the spot
where your bodies blazed
in the sweetfer (10-2).
Dream and memory blend in this recollection, as Trethewey's speaker fuses the two in his “dazed” (3) state. While the poem initially opens with a slow pace, as evidenced by Trethewey's languid diction—particularly his use of “bob” (2), “sleep” (2), “dreaming” (3), “warm” (4) and “glow” (7)—it eventually quickens following the sexualized recollection which opens the second stanza. While the speaker travels over a bridge, he continues to blend the worlds of memory and dream, as he “bring[s] the boys in from the dream” (34). For the speaker, then,
memory stammers, repeats itself,
and for all your cunning
this river fades into other rivers,
all rivers (41-4).
In this moment, the speaker crosses from the innocence of childhood into the complexity of adulthood. While “memory stammers” (41), the speaker's dreams fill the gap: the river's rush becomes inevitable, much like the speaker's maturity as he becomes ensnared in a “circle of loss” (43).
Trethewey's use of the second-person does more than force readers to identify with the speaker, as the speaker also becomes identified with the rivers throughout the poem, “all those other rivers / blinking silver through the trees” (73-74). The imperative second-person voice implicates the reader as one such river, composed of rivers of story to follow the poem's dream logic, as the river “fades into other rivers / all rivers” (44). Trethewey's closing lines convey the nostalgia of the dream, as the speaker may travel
beyond where you've been yet,
ocean bound now,
with all those other rivers
blinking silver through the trees,
golden in the sun
and though you've lost it again
you know it doesn't end here (68-75).
The dream continues through to waking and daylight, while the scene becomes “golden in the sun” (73). With these closing lines of nostalgia, Trethewey ensures that the divide between dream and memory remains ambiguous beyond the poem's close.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Brooks, Andrew. "Discomforting Gifts." Canadian Literature 144 (1995): 162. Academic Search Premier. Accessed online 11 Mar. 2013.
Trethewey, Eric. “CanLit Poets: Eric Trethewey”. canlit.ca. Canadian Literature 21 Apr 2010. Accessed 11 Mar 2013.
Trethewey, Eric. “Dreaming of Rivers.” Dreaming of Rivers. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984.
Eric Trethewey’s poem “Dreaming of Rivers” explores the quick, flowing images of a dream experienced by the speaker. Trethewey's opening line indicates the setting of the poem, wherein the speaker's dream occurs on an “autumn night” (1). “Dreaming of Rivers” becomes increasingly concerned with the reality of dream logic, as Trethewey's speaker strives to maintain the dream's vivacity before it slips into the vault of memory. Trethewey's speaker “bob[s] up from sleep” (2) and is “dazed” (4), capturing the moment between memory and forgetting.
While a brief mention of “Ellershouse River” (9) situates readers within the geographical space of Trethewey's birth-province of Nova Scotia, Trethewey's use of the second-person pronoun suggests that the reader and the speaker inhabit the same space of understanding. In this instance, the reader is situated within the dream-scape herself. The second stanza introduces a sexualized dream image focusing on the landscape surrounding it, as Trethewey commands the reader—and, consequently, the speaker—to
begin with the girl, the spot
where your bodies blazed
in the sweetfer (10-2).
Dream and memory blend in this recollection, as Trethewey's speaker fuses the two in his “dazed” (3) state. While the poem initially opens with a slow pace, as evidenced by Trethewey's languid diction—particularly his use of “bob” (2), “sleep” (2), “dreaming” (3), “warm” (4) and “glow” (7)—it eventually quickens following the sexualized recollection which opens the second stanza. While the speaker travels over a bridge, he continues to blend the worlds of memory and dream, as he “bring[s] the boys in from the dream” (34). For the speaker, then,
memory stammers, repeats itself,
and for all your cunning
this river fades into other rivers,
all rivers (41-4).
In this moment, the speaker crosses from the innocence of childhood into the complexity of adulthood. While “memory stammers” (41), the speaker's dreams fill the gap: the river's rush becomes inevitable, much like the speaker's maturity as he becomes ensnared in a “circle of loss” (43).
Trethewey's use of the second-person does more than force readers to identify with the speaker, as the speaker also becomes identified with the rivers throughout the poem, “all those other rivers / blinking silver through the trees” (73-74). The imperative second-person voice implicates the reader as one such river, composed of rivers of story to follow the poem's dream logic, as the river “fades into other rivers / all rivers” (44). Trethewey's closing lines convey the nostalgia of the dream, as the speaker may travel
beyond where you've been yet,
ocean bound now,
with all those other rivers
blinking silver through the trees,
golden in the sun
and though you've lost it again
you know it doesn't end here (68-75).
The dream continues through to waking and daylight, while the scene becomes “golden in the sun” (73). With these closing lines of nostalgia, Trethewey ensures that the divide between dream and memory remains ambiguous beyond the poem's close.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Brooks, Andrew. "Discomforting Gifts." Canadian Literature 144 (1995): 162. Academic Search Premier. Accessed online 11 Mar. 2013.
Trethewey, Eric. “CanLit Poets: Eric Trethewey”. canlit.ca. Canadian Literature 21 Apr 2010. Accessed 11 Mar 2013.
Trethewey, Eric. “Dreaming of Rivers.” Dreaming of Rivers. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Trethewey, Eric. “Always the Same.” The Georgia Review 36.1 (1982): 112. Arts & Sciences XI.
---. “Antecedents.” The North American Review 265.2 (1980): 5. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Aubade.” Poetry 157.6 (1991): 314. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Boots.” Parnassus: Poetry in Review 26.2 (2002): 201. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Celka.” Prairie Schooner 61.4 (Winter 1987): 96-97. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “The Cellar.” New Republic 210.17 (1994): 40. Business Source Complete.
---. “Central Lock-Up.” The Kenyon Review 12.3 (1990): 76-77. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Circling, Cutting Back.” Dalhousie Review 73.4 (Winter 1993/1994): 481. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Clarity.” Southwest Review 88.2/3 (2003): 224. Academic Search Complete.
---. “The Cold Child.” College English 50.2 (1988): 154-155. Arts & Sciences III.
---.“Connections and Correspondences.” Antioch Review 66.4 (Fall 2008): 682. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Contemporary Sensibilities.” Canadian Literature 179 (Winter 2003): 144. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Courts Martial.” The Iowa Review 36.2 (Fall 2006): 136-149. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Cross-Purposes.” The American Scholar 52.3 (Summer 1983): 326. Arts & Sciences XI. Web,
---. “Current.” The Sewanee Review 99.2 (Spring 1991): 200-201. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Cutting to the Bone (“Scar”).” Introspections: American Poets on One of Their Own Poems. Ed. Robert Pack and Jay Parini. Middlebury, VT: Middle College Press, 1997. 284-289.
---. “A Disaster of War.” Dalhousie Review 81.2 (Summer 2001): 311. Academic Search Complete.
---. Dreaming of Rivers. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984.
---. “Echoes.” College English 51.7 (1989): 705-706. Language & Literature.
---. Evening Knowledge. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State UP Poetry Center, 1991.
---. “Fools and Horses.” The Sewanee Review 99.2 (Spring 1991): 198-200. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “The Fox.” Southern Review 38.3 (2002): 515. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Frost on the Fields.” Hudson Review 56.2 (Summer 2003): 333. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Glossary: A Deconstruction.” Ploughshares 16.1 (Spring/Summer 1990): 92-95. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Gone Fishing.” Dalhousie Review 83.1 (Spring 2003): 81. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Green Street.” Southern Review 38.3 (Summer 2002): 514. ArticleFirst.
---. “Her Swing.” Prairie Schooner 54.3 (1980): 48-49. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Indian Summer.” Southern Review 42.1 (Winter 2006): 85. ArticleFirst.
---. “In the Landscape of Opinion.” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 80-81. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “In the Traces.” The Sewanee Review 86.3 (Summer 1978): 378-379. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Learning the Future.” Canadian Literature 174 (Autumn 2002): 49. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Life Story.” Prairie Schooner 61.4 (Winter 1987): 97-98. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “The Listeners.” Atlantic 267.4 (1991): 86. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Luck.” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 80. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Neighbors.” Literary Review 35.2 (Winter 1992): 252. Academic Search Complete.
---. “New Penny.” Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 34.3 (2003): 213. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Pass Below.” Sewanee Review 114.4 (2006): 594. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Polio.” Paterson Literary Review 33 (2004): 110. Academic Search Complete.
---. “The Road of Excess.” The Antigonish Review 167 (Autumn 2011): 86. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Scar.” Paris Review 33.118 (1991): 259. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Shank's Mare.” Southwest Review 94.1 (2009): 500. Academic Search Complete.
---. Songs and Lamentations: Poems. Cincinnati, OH: Word Press, 2004.
---. “Sunday Outing at Grand Lake.” The Sewanee Review 86.3 (Summer 1978): 378. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “This Morning.” Midwest Quarterly 45.1 (Autumn 2003): 72. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Wait.” Poetry 162.4 (1993): 208-209. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Walking Home.” Southern Review 39.1 (Winter 2003): 198. ArticleFirst.
---. “The Watcher.” The Antigonish Review 132 (Winter 2003): 48. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Where Were You Headed?” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 82. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Woods Talk.” Poetry 157.6 (1991): 313. Arts & Sciences VIII.
Trethewey, Eric. “Always the Same.” The Georgia Review 36.1 (1982): 112. Arts & Sciences XI.
---. “Antecedents.” The North American Review 265.2 (1980): 5. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Aubade.” Poetry 157.6 (1991): 314. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Boots.” Parnassus: Poetry in Review 26.2 (2002): 201. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Celka.” Prairie Schooner 61.4 (Winter 1987): 96-97. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “The Cellar.” New Republic 210.17 (1994): 40. Business Source Complete.
---. “Central Lock-Up.” The Kenyon Review 12.3 (1990): 76-77. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Circling, Cutting Back.” Dalhousie Review 73.4 (Winter 1993/1994): 481. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Clarity.” Southwest Review 88.2/3 (2003): 224. Academic Search Complete.
---. “The Cold Child.” College English 50.2 (1988): 154-155. Arts & Sciences III.
---.“Connections and Correspondences.” Antioch Review 66.4 (Fall 2008): 682. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Contemporary Sensibilities.” Canadian Literature 179 (Winter 2003): 144. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Courts Martial.” The Iowa Review 36.2 (Fall 2006): 136-149. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Cross-Purposes.” The American Scholar 52.3 (Summer 1983): 326. Arts & Sciences XI. Web,
---. “Current.” The Sewanee Review 99.2 (Spring 1991): 200-201. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Cutting to the Bone (“Scar”).” Introspections: American Poets on One of Their Own Poems. Ed. Robert Pack and Jay Parini. Middlebury, VT: Middle College Press, 1997. 284-289.
---. “A Disaster of War.” Dalhousie Review 81.2 (Summer 2001): 311. Academic Search Complete.
---. Dreaming of Rivers. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1984.
---. “Echoes.” College English 51.7 (1989): 705-706. Language & Literature.
---. Evening Knowledge. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State UP Poetry Center, 1991.
---. “Fools and Horses.” The Sewanee Review 99.2 (Spring 1991): 198-200. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “The Fox.” Southern Review 38.3 (2002): 515. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Frost on the Fields.” Hudson Review 56.2 (Summer 2003): 333. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Glossary: A Deconstruction.” Ploughshares 16.1 (Spring/Summer 1990): 92-95. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Gone Fishing.” Dalhousie Review 83.1 (Spring 2003): 81. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Green Street.” Southern Review 38.3 (Summer 2002): 514. ArticleFirst.
---. “Her Swing.” Prairie Schooner 54.3 (1980): 48-49. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Indian Summer.” Southern Review 42.1 (Winter 2006): 85. ArticleFirst.
---. “In the Landscape of Opinion.” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 80-81. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “In the Traces.” The Sewanee Review 86.3 (Summer 1978): 378-379. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “Learning the Future.” Canadian Literature 174 (Autumn 2002): 49. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Life Story.” Prairie Schooner 61.4 (Winter 1987): 97-98. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “The Listeners.” Atlantic 267.4 (1991): 86. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Luck.” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 80. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Neighbors.” Literary Review 35.2 (Winter 1992): 252. Academic Search Complete.
---. “New Penny.” Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 34.3 (2003): 213. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Pass Below.” Sewanee Review 114.4 (2006): 594. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Polio.” Paterson Literary Review 33 (2004): 110. Academic Search Complete.
---. “The Road of Excess.” The Antigonish Review 167 (Autumn 2011): 86. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Scar.” Paris Review 33.118 (1991): 259. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Shank's Mare.” Southwest Review 94.1 (2009): 500. Academic Search Complete.
---. Songs and Lamentations: Poems. Cincinnati, OH: Word Press, 2004.
---. “Sunday Outing at Grand Lake.” The Sewanee Review 86.3 (Summer 1978): 378. Arts & Sciences V.
---. “This Morning.” Midwest Quarterly 45.1 (Autumn 2003): 72. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Wait.” Poetry 162.4 (1993): 208-209. Arts & Sciences VII.
---. “Walking Home.” Southern Review 39.1 (Winter 2003): 198. ArticleFirst.
---. “The Watcher.” The Antigonish Review 132 (Winter 2003): 48. Academic Search Complete.
---. “Where Were You Headed?” Poetry 149.2 (1986): 82. Arts & Sciences VIII.
---. “Woods Talk.” Poetry 157.6 (1991): 313. Arts & Sciences VIII.
